Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire
| image = | alt = | caption = Packaging artwork for Alpha Sapphire featuring the legendary Pokémon Primal Kyogre. Omega Ruby s artwork features the legendary Pokémon Primal Groudon. | developer = Game Freak | publisher = | series = Pokémon | engine = | platforms = Nintendo 3DS | released = | genre = Role-playing | modes = Single-player, multiplayer | director = Shigeru Ohmori | producer = | designer = | programmer = | artist = | writer = | composer = }} are two 2014 role-playing video games developed by Game Freak, published by The Pokémon Company and Nintendo for the Nintendo 3DS family of systems. They are part of the sixth generation of the Pokémon series, serving as enhanced remakes of the 2002 Game Boy Advance titles [[Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire|''Pokémon Ruby'' and Sapphire]]. The games were announced on May 7, 2014, in a teaser trailer released by Nintendo. As with [[Pokémon X and Y|''Pokémon X'' and Y'']], the games include all official translations, unlike previous generations where each game contained only a single language. ''Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire were released in Japan, North America, and Australia on November 21, 2014, exactly twelve years after the release date of the original Ruby and Sapphire, while the European release was the following week. As of March 31, 2019, the games have sold 14.19 million copies worldwide. Gameplay Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire retain most of the features of [[Pokémon X and Y|''Pokémon X'' and Y'']], such as Mega Evolution and Super Training. The games introduced new features including Primal Reversion for Groudon and Kyogre, as well as using Latios or Latias to fly around Hoenn. Plot and setting The plot and setting of ''Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire are mostly the same as the original Ruby and Sapphire games. The game begins as the player is seen riding in the back of a moving truck. The player character starts by moving to the Hoenn Region from the Johto Region with his/her mother, as their father Norman has been hired as the leader of the Petalburg City Gym. The player arrives with their parents at the family's new home in the village of Littleroot Town, on the southern edge of the main island. The player character begins their Pokémon Trainer journey by saving Professor Birch, the leading scientist in the Hoenn region, from a wild Pokémon, choosing either Treecko, Torchic, or Mudkip to defend him. Following the defeat of the wild Pokémon, the player receives the chosen Pokémon as their starter. They then travel around the Hoenn Region to complete their Pokédex and battle the eight Gym Leaders of the Hoenn Pokémon League. Along the way, the player character encounters the antagonist group Team Magma in Omega Ruby or Team Aqua in Alpha Sapphire who wish to use the power of the Legendary Pokémon, Primal Kyogre in Alpha Sapphire and Primal Groudon in Omega Ruby, to change the world to suit their desires. Team Magma wants to use Groudon to dry up the oceans to make the world a haven for land Pokémon while Team Aqua wishes to summon Kyogre to flood the lands to suit Water Pokémon. With the help of Hoenn League Champion Steven Stone and the Gym Leader Wallace, the player defeats their respective team and then either captures or defeats the Legendary Pokémon to prevent a global drought/heavy rainfall, and thus ensuring the teams' mutual reformation. The player then advances on to the Pokémon League, challenging the Elite Four and then Steven to become the new Hoenn Pokémon League Champion. The player also has the option of participating in the various Pokémon Contests throughout Hoenn, using their Pokémon to put on a performance for an audience and judges. Aside from the gameplay, 20 new Mega Evolutions were added since Pokémon X and Y'' to enhance gameplay. A new side quest featured in ''Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire is called the Delta Episode. The player character must work with the new character Zinnia, Steven, and Professor Cozmo to find a way to stop a meteor from crashing into the planet, which requires capturing the Legendary Pokémon Rayquaza in order to stop the meteor which contains the Mythical Pokémon Deoxys. Reception 82/100 (AS) | Fam = 37/40 | GI = 8.75/10 | GSpot = 8/10 | IGN = 7.8/10 | Joystiq = | NWR = 9/10 | Poly = 8/10 | rev1 = Hardcore Gamer | rev1Score = 4/5 }} Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire have received positive reviews from video game critics. GameSpot's Peter Brown praised the 3D visuals and the super training mechanic, but believed the game failed to fully resolve general issues in the game formula. IGN's Kallie Plagge also praised the game's 3D reinvention of Hoenn and online functionality. Plagge was critical of the over-abundance of HMs needed to play the game as well as the perceived imbalance favoring Water-type Pokémon (she played Alpha Sapphire which features Team Aqua as the villains) and the reliance on water-based routes. She remarked that while the Dive feature was novel in the original release, it had since become tedious. The games sold 3,040,000 copies in their first three days of sale. Of the total sales, 1,534,593 copies were sold in Japan, the rest were sold in North America and Australia. Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire had the biggest launch in the series history in the United Kingdom, beating the previous record held by [[Pokémon Black and White|''Pokémon Black'' and White]]. By the end of 2014, the games had sold 2.4 million copies in Japan. As of March 31, 2019, the games have sold 14.19 million copies worldwide. Notes References External links * * (International) Category:Game Freak games Category:Nintendo 3DS eShop games Category:Nintendo 3DS games Category:Nintendo 3DS-only games Category:Nintendo Network games Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire Category:Role-playing video games Category:Video games developed in Japan Category:Video games featuring protagonists of selectable gender Category:Video games with cel-shaded graphics Category:Video game remakes Category:2014 video games Category:Video games with alternate versions Category:Multiplayer and single-player video games